George Carlin: Complaints And Grievances

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All Rise...

Judge Dennis Prince remembers the softer, hemp-inspired days of George Carlin. Seems someone has since raided the comedian's window box and man, is he ever pissed off.

The Charge

No—this isn't your parents' "Hippy Dippy Weather Man."

The Case

Once the spokesman for all things weird, whacked-out, and just plain freaky,
the drug-stumping, erstwhile hippy George Carlin has gotten cranky of late. Now,
he's always had an axe to grind with one slice of society or another, and in
between bong hits he would playfully yet pointedly isolate and assail whomever
had pissed him off in his standup routines. Well, the years haven't been too
good for our "Wonderful Wino," our "Hippy Dippy Weather
Man," our perennial yucking-it-up yogi. Our low-brow, low-flying,
low-blowing funny man has apparently traded in his water pipe for a flame
thrower, which he freely discharges with fury-inspired abandon. This guy's
really pissed off now, as evidenced in this tickling yet tyrannical
tirade, George Carlin—Complaints & Grievances.

Hold onto your butt, Martha—I think this guy's on peyote.

Appearing in his 12th HBO special, this live show, recorded on November 17,
2001 at New York City's Beacon Theater, was originally entitled "I Kinda
Like It When a Lotta People Die." Until the evening of September 10, 2001.
After the terrorist attack, he saw the sense in renaming his show, and did. He's
edgy and angry about the events of September 11th, yet it's unclear with whom
he's angry: the terrorists or the current Administration. No matter, because he
doesn't spend too much time dwelling on potentially polarizing yik-yak and,
instead, unveils his own brand of biological counter-terrorism to smoke the
terrorists out of their Afghani caves (it's classic Carlin). With that said and
done, he moves into the meat of his act, delving into side-splitting discussions
of traffic accidents, things that come off your body, and why he hates people
named 'Todd' and 'Tucker.' He wraps with his version of how to trim the 10
Commandments.

As I mentioned, this isn't that hip and flip yippee of decades past, nor is
it the soothing Mr. Conductor from his stint on Shining Time Station. The
material is truly laugh-out-loud funny, but it carries with it an element of
deep frustration and fury that doesn't seem part of the act (to my ears and
eyes, anyway). No doubt, the entire nation was on a hair trigger edge in those
first several weeks after the attack on America. So if Carlin was unusually
ticked off, I say, "yes, I understand." And, perhaps, given that
Carlin's been at this for over 40 years now, it's possible he's just growing
exasperated with thoughts like "haven't I taught you anything in all these
years?"

He wastes no time getting started, letting us know that his act incorporates
an unending stream of obscenities that go well beyond the original "7 Dirty
Words You Can't Say On Television." Yet, as you might expect, Carlin does
manage to dig into his 40+ year career bag of tricks for a few repeats:

It's no surprise we see Mother Gore's "Parental Advisory" label on
this one—certainly a badge of honor in Carlin's eyes.

This new DVD from MPI looks pretty good, obviously culled from a direct
stream from the HBO special (you'll find the text bleeds and the HBO watermark
throughout the presentation). The full frame image is clean and clear, but a bit
dark (due to the stage lighting). The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track is more than
suitable, mixed well to ensure Carlin isn't drowned out by the audience's
laughter. There are no extras.

While it runs just a scant 57 minutes, George Carlin's Complaints &
Grievances DVD will leave you thoroughly worn out from laughter and
cringing, alternately. If you're a student of Professor Carlin from the 1970s,
understand that he wields a much sharper rapier wit today, compared to his days
of taking mostly about pot and poop. His most humorous moments come from his
wacky voices and precisely-timed vocal inflections—that's still alive and
well in his current repertoire. Shoo the kiddies away and have a good time with
this one. Who knows, you may even learn something about yourself this time
around.

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